Tuesday, October 21, 2014

What is Bill Cassidy even for?

Even if Republicans take the Senate this fall and join the House in
voting for repeal, President Barack Obama still has veto power, and he’d
clearly nix any bill that would undo his signature legislation. And if
opponents are waiting on whoever’s elected in 2016, well, a more diverse
presidential electorate and a crop of Senate elections that favors
Democrats at least as strongly as this year’s favors Republicans makes
an anti-ACA wave unlikely.

It’s also not going away for practical reasons. Because it’s helping people, right now.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who’s caught hell for backing the
ACA, is right that it’s far from perfect. But she’s also correct that
the law has provided genuine, real-life benefits that recipients would
be loathe to lose.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich doesn't think the Affordable Care Act will be
repealed, even if Republicans win a Senate majority and consolidate
their hold on the House in next month's election. "That's not gonna
happen," Kasich told The Associated Press during a recent re-election
campaign swing.

"The opposition to it was really either political or ideological,"
the Republican governor added. "I don't think that holds water against
real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people's lives." In a
state that's pivotal for national politics, Kasich casts Medicaid
expansion as a moral choice to help the poor.

While "repeal" remains the mantra for many Republicans in Washington, it's up against some hard facts.

So Republican candidates who are running on this issue right now are the very picture of backward looking impotent rage.

Take Bill Cassidy, for example. The very core of the Senatorial hopeful's campaign message to this point has been, "Obamacare Bad!" Just take a look at his ads (you find those by starting any random Youtube video) or watch this recent debate (also I took some notes here if you're interested) and you'll notice that Cassidy can't go more than a few lines into any argument without linking it back to Obamacare in some way.

And maybe this is a winning strategy for Republicans like Cassidy. Former President Bill Clinton, who spoke at a Baton Rouge rally for Mary Landrieu yesterday would probably dispute that notion. Clinton, who speaks so frequently on the importance of presenting voters with a set of ideas to vote for rather than grievances to be against, that one would almost believe he'd trademarked the line, emphasized it again yesterday.

Clinton said Republicans are running against Obama’s administration in this election cycle.

“We all know what’s going on, us Southerners, in this election,”
Clinton said. “You cannot afford to vote for what you’re against. You
have to vote for what you’re for.”

He ran through a laundry list of Landrieu’s campaign talking points:
college loan refinancing and increasing the Pell Grant, her support for
raising the minimum wage and energy policies — stances he said would
help strengthen the economy.

“We’ve got to build a future we can all share — a future of shared
prosperity, shared opportunity and shared responsibility,” he said.

Now one could argue that this works differently for Republicans than it does for Democrats, or even for an opposition party in any President's second mid-term election. But Bill Cassidy wants to be a US Senator for the next six years many of which will happen after Obama is out of office.

We know Cassidy doesn't like Obama and we know he doesn't like Obamacare. But since Obama is leaving, and the ACA is here to stay voters might still want to know, what is Bill Cassidy actually for?